Colvin Nomination Still Moving

The nomination of Carolyn Colvin to become Social Security's Deputy Commissioner is finally moving through the Senate. It has been reported out of the Finance Committee and placed on the Senate's "Executive Calendar," whatever that is.

Personnel Changes

MEMORANDUM

Date: December 15, 2010 Refer
Refer To: S7K

To: Senior Staff

From: Michael J. Astrue /s/
Commissioner

Subject: Executive Personnel Assignments - INFORMATION

I have several announcements to share.

In the Office of Budget, Finance and Management, Mike Kramer, Senior Executive Service Candidate Development Program (SESCDP) Class V, will become the Acting Deputy Associate Commissioner for Facilities Management (Environmental, Security & Emergency Response) effective January 3.

In the Office of Operations, Linda Dorn, SES CDP Class IV, will become the Associate Commissioner for Disability Determinations. Ruby Burrell, currently serving in that role, will become the Associate Commissioner for Field Site Operations in the Office of Quality Performance effective December 19.

In Operations and Systems, I have established a second Assistant Deputy Commissioner position. Effective January 3, Terrie Gruber will move from Assistant Deputy Commissioner for Disability Adjudication and Review to the Office of Operations as Assistant Deputy Commissioner, and Debbi Russell will move from Associate Commissioner for Automation Support to the Office of Systems as Assistant Deputy Commissioner.

Jo Armstrong will move from Associate Commissioner for Electronic Services to the Associate Commissioner for Automation Support. Sylviane Haldiman will move from Deputy Associate Commissioner for Automation Support to Associate Commissioner for Electronic Services. Laura Train, SES CDP Class IV, will become Deputy Associate Commissioner for Electronic Services.

In the Office of Disability Adjudication and Review, Jim Borland, currently Associate Commissioner for Electronic Services and Strategic Information will become Assistant Deputy Commissioner. Natalie Lu, SES CDP Class IV, will become the Acting Associate Commissioner for Electronic Services and Strategic Information.

Chief Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Frank Cristaudo has accepted a position as Associate Chief ALJ for Administrative Management.

Please join me in wishing everyone success in their new assignments.

Government Shutdown For The Holiday Season?

Republicans are threatening a government shutdown this month.

Why Social Security Cuts Don't Worry The Wealthy

From Yglesias.

Colvin Nomination Moving

The Senate Finance Committee has scheduled a meeting for tomorrow to report out the nomination of Carolyn Colvin to become Deputy Commissioner of Social Security.

Senate Omnibus Bill

The Senate version of an omnibus appropriations bill is out and it calls for $11.63 billion for Social Security generally (page 1083). Of that $1.86 million must be spent "only to increase the Social Security Administration’s acquisition workforce capacity and capabilities" and $283 million only for continuing disability reviews. There is another $513 million appropriated for additional continuing disability reviews on top of the $11.63 billion generally. The House bill called for $11.24 billion for Social Security. The President's recommendation had been $12.38 billion. At least, I think these are the numbers. I find appropriations bills to be extremely confusing.

I have no idea about the prospects for passage. I would like to think that the personnel who prepared this 1,924 page bill did not waste their time.

Shifting Focus

From Frontline, the newsletter of the National Council of Social Security Management Associations (NCSSMA):

Although Commissioner Astrue was not able to attend the [early October NCSSMA] conference, he did engage in active conversation with the delegates through a video conference. ... He also shared his vision of the future for field offices, describing the future as an “evolution rather than a revolution”. He expects field office positions will gradually evolve from handling repetitive, high volume workloads to handling the most complex cases while automated services begin handling more of the simple cases. ...

He predicted that ODAR [Office of Disability Adjudication and Review] will likely stop being the focus of the agency’s budget by the end of FY 2011 at which time field offices and customer service needs will likely become the primary focus of the budget.

And It's Not Even Popular!

A Washington Post poll shows that 57% of Americans oppose reducing the FICA tax by two percent. Even most Republicans oppose it. It is the only part of the package opposed by most people.

I think people understand the risk and they don't like it.